BLACK, WHITE AND A GAP

The disparity in arrests and sentencing points to a basic inequity.
But treating drug use as a public health problem is the best solution.

The reasons given in two recent studies for why blacks get arrested
and go to prison more often for drug crimes than do whites are
entirely logical. In fact, two reasons in particular argue sensibly
that the system isn't racist:

Inner city neighborhoods tend to have higher crime rates, which
result in higher police presence. Police officers then do what police
officers do - detect crime and make arrests. Dominoes in prosecution
and the courts inexorably fall.

Also, drug deals, it is said, are more visible in inner city
neighborhoods than in largely white suburbs. So, detection and arrest
are made easier still.

These, however, don't alter an equally logical conclusion: Just
because individual police officers, prosecutors and judges aren't
racist doesn't mean the outcomes they and their work produce aren't.

As the reports by The Sentencing Project and Human Rights Watch note,
whites outnumber blacks in Wisconsin and elsewhere. That means more
drug use likely occurs among whites than among blacks, although rates
of drug use between the two groups is roughly equal.

Said another way: Whites commit more drug crimes overall, but
African-Americans disproportionately suffer stiffer consequences. Not
much about this is fair.

Yes, all it takes to change this equation is for black drug users to
stop using. And no one is arguing that higher crime areas shouldn't
attract higher police scrutiny.

But the outcomes the unlucky segment suffers as a result of this
heightened scrutiny are not inconsequential. A felony conviction, no
matter how many years are spent in prison, can be tantamount to a
life sentence, barring people from jobs and other means, such as
student loans and driver's licenses, to better their lives.

The answer isn't to ratchet up drug enforcement in white communities.
Instead, treat drug use as a public health scourge in need of
treatment, not just punishment.

This argues for the creation of drug courts - like the one in
Waukesha County - that give judges the discretion to channel
offenders into treatment and rehabilitation rather than prison.

Fortunately, this is a goal of key people in Milwaukee County,
District Attorney John Chisholm among them.

It is unfair that one segment of the population suffers more for
doing what others, in greater numbers, do elsewhere. But even less
fair would be to make the war on drugs such a contributor to the
cycle of crime and poverty that casualties only keep mounting.

Are African-Americans unfairly targeted for drug arrests in
Wisconsin? Send a letter to the Journal Sentinel editorial department.